Today we squeezed, skinned, quartered, and sliced the 60 pounds of tomatoes JEJ harvested yesterday. The first project of the day was to make salsa. With all the chopping and mincing that is involved it certainly is a two person job. JEJ was a great partner in the kitchen as we put up sixteen pints of my Zesty Salsa.

The next project of the day was to make Seasoned Tomato Sauce. This requires a bit more time than I realized. After the squeezing and quartering, there is cooking, then milling, then cooking more. After that the sauce goes into the hot water bath for thirty minutes. We just took out the last batch and now have fifteen pints of the sauce that filled the kitchen with savory aromas all afternoon and evening.Here are the two recipes I used today. Both were adapted from recipes in Ball Blue Book : Guide to Home Canning.

( At this point I used the food processor and left in the skins and seeds.) Cook pulp in a large, uncovered pot over medium-high heat until sauce thickens, stirring to prevent sticking. Reduce volume by one-half for a thick sauce. Again, for me if it is watery I cook it down more or strain it to get rid of some of the liquid. Add 2 TBs bottled lemon juice to each quart or 1 TB bottled lemon juice for each pint of sauce. Ladle sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 " headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 35 minutes, quarts 40 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: About 14 pints or 7 quarts.

Tip: I don't have a pot big enough for this batch. I had to use three different pans, but then mixed them as the sauce cooked down.

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